


petrichor

by hoziest (sol1t41r3)



Series: Prince AU [1]
Category: BoBoiBoy (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M, Masquerade Ball, illegal fluff, prince AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22965469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sol1t41r3/pseuds/hoziest
Summary: An excerpt from Prince AU:The annual Masquerade Ball proves a great opportunity for Prince Gempa to finally meet his quirky suitor that leaves letters and flowers by his balcony.
Relationships: Ice/Gempa
Series: Prince AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1773097
Kudos: 18





	petrichor

My heart pounds as I put on my masque, this was the first time I would ever attend a ball. Although no one would know who I was, I still felt like I'd be caught by the guards or worse, my father.

 _But Ice would be here._ I reminded myself. Ice promised that he would come; and I promised that I'd wait for him. This would be the first time I’d actually meet him and I couldn’t miss that opportunity.

As I step into the ballroom, my eyes widen.

There were so much more people than I could ever count. More than I've ever seen in one place. This was the grand ball that my dad hosted every year?

It was certainly more than grand.

The ballroom that always seemed empty was bursting with life! The chandeliers casted silhouettes on the people attending, the whole hall seemed to come to life, intricate details and patterns painted onto the walls danced with merry as the ballroom was once again hosting a grand celebration!

My head spun as I watched all the people of grandiose posture and garments. It seemed that everyone here were in positions of varying nobility, there was not a dull color that marred the gowns and suits they wore. Guests danced and dined with a frightening vigor, celebrating as nobles do. Their masques were grand, vivid and lined with different jewels and feathers; of course, no one would wear any ordinary mask for the Kingdom of Kristal's great masquerade ball.

The musical ensemble from the corner played baroque music, the kind my father usually commissioned musicians to play in the afternoon hours, filling the castle with a false cheerful tune that echoed through its empty halls. I found no such delight in it as he does, I would have preferred the simple and enchanting tales bards sung in taverns, songs with stories to tell.

Seeing all these people was certainly an amazing sight, I had never seen a crowd of this size. The hall must have accommodated hundreds if not thousands!

Yet, even in this sea of merry guests, I still stood alone.

Even though I was a prince myself, I felt like I didn’t belong.

_Where was Ice?_

I stuck to the walls, walking past the mass of people that occupied the vast dance floor, their heels and soles clicked along the porcelain as they all danced in sync to the ensemble.

Every second I spent here, the anxiety in the pit of my stomach grew and nipped at me. It was an alien setting, one fit for the royalty that I was not raised to possess.

When I reached the food, I was ready to collapse. My hands were trembling as voices from all around assaulted my ears. Laughing, talking, talking, talking.

But there was one clear voice that I could hear, whispering:

_I wasn’t supposed to be here._

I eyed the table of dishes laid out for the guests, I felt sick at the sight of roasted duck and meat pies, my appetite had long since been gone. Wine glasses lined the side of the table, some half-full and some empty, one lied on its side, the wine staining the linen covering of the table.

My father certainly didn’t hold back when it came to feasts.

The guests came in pairs, partners. The masquerade ball was for couples just as much as it was for nobility. Across the table, I could spot two people, bickering and arguing. The one wearing a dark suit had taken off his mask, revealing a scowling face and dark red eyes. His partner snapped at him. His white cape falling to his waist, violently jerking as he talked with his hands.

I looked away. It seemed personal and I didn’t want to intrude on such matters.

There was someone I had to look for, but I wasn’t sure how I could find Ice in this crowd.

I walked by the length of the table, walking past people who didn’t know who I was, past servants and guards who didn’t recognize me. All because I wore a masque.

Who knew such a simple accessory could completely hide the identity of oneself?

"Excuse me, you look a little lost there." I jumped at the loud voice coming from behind me.

But without turning, I knew already who it was right then and there. Even if I had never heard his voice or touched him, I knew him by the strokes of his handwriting on paper, by the smile that he gives me from afar.

I whipped around and there he was, a light blue masque lined with gold trimming covered the upper half of his face. Lining his lips was a small, cheeky smile.

Sharp blue eyes stared back at me through both of our masks.

_Ice._

"I was afraid you were caught." He leans in close to my ear. His voice drowning out everything else, the music, the voices, the thoughts. "I'm glad you made it."

No words could describe how happy I was to see him here, in front of me. In reach. The weight on my chest had been lifted.

I threw myself onto him, wrapping my hands around his waist.

Ice felt familiar, Ice was real.

_And I felt safer._

"We should go somewhere more private. You look pale." Ice brushed his hand across my back.

"I know just the place," I pulled back, smiling.

We dodged the waiters and guests milling around the ballroom, the guards no longer stood at the doors to the inner hall so it was easier.

I pulled Ice by the hand; the warmth of his glove radiated into my own hand. But I didn’t feel clammy.

It felt bizarre, to be the one who was leading. But I knew this castle like the back of my own hand, I'd spent all my life locked in it. Every door and passageway, I knew where they all led.

To just another room in a castle.

"Wait!" Ice pulls me back as a guard turns around the corner. Quickly, I open the door to a storage room and usher him in there.

It's a tight space, but we both fit. I can’t help but look up at Ice. His eyes meet mine as he looked down too.

"Where are we going?" Ice asks. He looks awkward when squeezed in such a tight space. He was trying hard not to touch me.

"My room," I whispered in reply, "that's private, isn’t it?"

"Definitely," Ice cracks a smile, "I think he's gone."

I blink and push open the door, poking my head out.

Not a soul in sight.

"Let's go!" I tugged at his arm.

We reached my room without any incident and as I opened the door, Ice is quiet.

"It's a bit of a mess," I admitted, rushing to my table to clean up the letters that he'd written to me. I was rereading them over and over before today. I’d completely forgotten to put them away!

_God, this was embarrassing._

"It's cozy." Ice said, having taken off his masque by the time I turned back to him. I bit my lip as he ruffled his curly hair, he smiled at me.

"Well, it's my life," I look away, taking off my masque.

Ice walked farther into my room, his cape billowing behind him.

"It's... great," he glanced around, "but..."

Ice looked back at me, "This is all you've ever known."

"Until I met you," I smiled, replying without skipping a beat, "your letters made me see waterfalls, the flower fields, rivers, the other kingdoms.

I loved reading about everywhere you went, your adventures with Pega. I felt like I was there with you. I could smell the spring flowers, feel the hot sun on my skin, feel the wind softly blowing through my hair.

Now, the world doesn’t seem as small as it did before," I glanced out the open balcony before looking back to him, having the biggest smile on my face, "so thank you. So much."

Before I met Ice, the world seemed so small. I never knew what was beyond the horizon, beyond the forest and meadows, beyond the mines. To me, the world was only a void, something of legend that, from its sheer vastness, could not possibly exist.

But Ice made it all come to life.

He doesn’t say anything but give a sad smile, turning away.

Ice takes in every detail of my room. It was big, but too big for one person and I knew it too. Nevertheless, I kept as little furniture as possible. Minimalistic.

I never did like the grandeur of a royal life. It was too much for the simplicity I craved for, the freedom I wanted.

“The balcony is the best view,” I murmured, watching Ice.

He walked farther away from me. He stopped before the opened glass doors leading out to the balcony.

Then he steps out into the open, his cape flutters in the cool breeze. The moon hung in the middle of the sky; it was a full milky white tonight. The stars glimmered like the gemstones born in the Kristal mines.

Ice walks out into the middle of the platform and he turns towards me. He’s smiling.

He holds his hand out, beckoning for me.

 _There it is again._ The feeling of butterflies, my heart racing.

Spellbound, I walked to him.

I stepped out into the moonlight and felt like a whole new person. One that was made to love, the half of a whole that I’d been deprived of.

I place my hand on Ice's, not hesitating for a single moment.

He raises my hand to his lips, kissing the back of it softly.

All the while he keeps his eyes focused on me.

There is the gentlest look in his eyes.

"May I have this dance?" It’s obvious that he's trying to hold back his smile, but the corners of his lips uncontrollably curve up.

If I concentrated hard enough, the baroque music of the ball could be heard from here. The cheerful brass and string instruments echoing into the night sky.

"You may," I smiled with no inhibition.

And he placed his left hand to my waist, squeezing gently. A smile of equal softness lined his lips, his eyes spoke thousands of words yet he said none.

My heart skipped a beat.

He led and I followed.

We drifted across the balcony with every step in-sync as if we had practiced for this our whole lives.

Ice hummed, his blue eyes twinkled like the stars, or like the waves of an ocean so vast you could never find shore. And that's what Ice was.

I was so taken, stuck in his inescapable gaze, stuck in everything that was him.

_I had fallen hard._

"Gem..." Ice murmured as he slowed to a sway.

The moon shined down upon us, a spotlight and a scene that no one else could see. Like liquid, the moonlight stained his hair, his clothes, his freckles and his smile and I had never seen anything so beautiful.

It was quiet, save for the low chirping of crickets.

"You don’t have to thank me for anything," said Ice.

"But..."

"You've done so much more for me than you can ever imagine," Ice lifts his right hand, fingers spread with my palm still pressed against his.

Ever so slightly, there was a subtle cold that nipped at my fingertips.

I only looked at him with a furrowed brow, not quite understanding.

"I think I've fallen in love with you," he whispered, telling me the most precious and beautiful secret.

My breath hitches, just as time does.

He laces our fingers together, squeezing my hand as his eyes meet mine again. Our hands fit perfectly.

Ice lets out a strangled laugh, his gaze focusing on our intertwined hands. "It's a bit sudden, isn’t it...?"

I press my forehead to his chest, feeling the rapid beating of his heart.

_He's nervous._

That's reassuring.

The smile on my face grows wider as I realize just what exactly I felt all this time.

All my feelings could be encompassed in just a few words. But they were far more precious than any other sentence or phrase.

"I think I have too," I murmured, my voice muffled, barely audible.

I don’t expect him to understand my near incoherent words but he does. My declaration was nervous and only meant for him. I was afraid to have anyone else know because if they did, it would all be lost. _I would lose him._

Ice's arms wrap around me, strong and warm. An assurance that he’d always be with me. _It’s been so long since I’ve felt like this_.

For this one moment, nothing else mattered in this whole wide world.

Except _us._

"I love you, I love you," Ice repeated, whispering into my ear, "you don’t know how much, Gem."

How long had he waited to say those words?

"I-I love you too," I buried my face in his chest. My heart swelled as I hugged him.

He was so warm.

Ice pulls away from the hug, still grinning and arms still wrapped around my waist.

_And he's so close._

He leans in slowly, eyes flicking downwards.

"Is this okay?"

_There is no perfect time than now._

"I-it is..."

My hands raise to cup his cheeks, I stand on tiptoe and I meet him in the middle.

Ice's lips collide with mine, soft and welcoming. Loving. I’d never felt anything quite like it, but it felt right. It felt right to be here with him, in this fleeting moment out of a million thousands.

I completely melt in his hold, pressing against him for support.

He smells like the rain, the earthy scent of petrichor, the smell of rain as it bleeds into the earth deep down. It’s everything and at the same time nothing like I expected him to smell.

Nothing else mattered except us.


End file.
